The design has subsequently been changed to incorporate an uncontrolled spillway in the form of a “Piano Key Weir.”

Last year, the North Coast Region of South Africa experienced a drought that exposed the inadequacies of the region’s current water storage. As part of an intervention to address this issue and the growing demands of the North Coast Region, the Department of Water Affairs decided to look at ways to improve the dam located on the Mdloti River. This was a giant task!

The Hazelmere Dam, located on the Mdloti River, was originally constructed as a concrete gravity dam in 1976.

The design has subsequently been changed to incorporate an uncontrolled spillway in the form of a “Piano Key Weir,” commonly referred to as a PKW structure.

A Yale CPE 10-ton electric chain hoist was used to set up the tensioning head of the steel wire cables.

To stabilize the wall of this dam, steel wire cables needed to be anchored in the rock surrounding the dam wall. To do this, CMCO Durban was asked to supply and install a Yale CPE 10-ton electric chain hoist. This hoist would be used to set up the tensioning head of the steel wire cables.

Once this project is complete, the dam wall will be increased by 7 meters (23 feet) and will raise the dam’s capacity from 23.9 million cubic meters (844 million cubic feet) to 43.7 million cubic meters (1543 million cubic feet).